球花棘豆 qiu hua ji dou

Herbs, 6-15 cm tall, acaulescent, from a multiheaded cau­dex, matlike or cushionlike, sericeous. Stipules linear-subulate, sericeous, adnate to petiole, distinct. Leaves 5-12 cm, 11-21-foliolate; petiole and rachis with appressed trichomes; leaflet blades lanceolate, oblong, or oblong-lanceolate, 5-17 × 1.5-4 mm, both surfaces appressed sericeous, apex acute. Racemes globose, dense, many flowered; peduncle longer than leaves, with appressed trichomes; bracts linear, as long as calyx tube, membranous, with dense white long trichomes and stout trichomes, apex acute. Calyx campanulate, ca. 5 mm, with appressed black and white trichomes; lobes linear-subulate, shorter than tube. Corolla bluish purple; standard 8-9 mm, lamina broadly ovate, apex rounded; wings slightly shorter than standard; keel as long as wings, beak ca. 2.5 mm. Legume stipi­tate; stipe 1.5-2 mm; body cylindric-ovoid to narrowly ovoid, 10-12 × 2.5-3 mm, pendulous, membranous, with appressed dense short trichomes, apex beaked. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

Pastures, alpine gravelly slopes, valleys, grasslands; 3600-4300 m. Xinjiang, Xizang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmeni­stan, Uzbekistan].